Bahrain's IIFM plans to issue global guidelines for sukuk

The International Islamic Financial Market, a Bahrain-based agency seeking to set standards for Islamic securities, may issue global guidelines in the next 12 to 18 months to facilitate the sale of sukuk, an official said.

“We are working on a sukuk master agreement based on asset-backed structures,” IIFM’s chairman Khalid Hamad said in an interview in Manama on Monday.

The guidelines will “help boost confidence in the sukuk industry, leading to more sukuk sales and attracting more investors.”

Shariah-compliant bonds are typically backed by assets and pay a share of profit instead of interest.